"There was a time when 900 people used to come to my parties. Today, even if you want to call 300, they will not come because they feel that the 1.30am deadline is like a curfew where everything shuts down."

Flesh row

The state government's argument is that dance bars and discos are breeding grounds for prostitution and crime.

Home Minister RR Patil has been instrumental in cracking down on bars and discos and police are enforcing his orders with enthusiasm.

This model's halter top slipped leaving her topless on the ramp

One enthusiastic senior police officer even suggested waitresses should leave for home by 6pm.

"Women don't need to work in bars. Why do they have to employ female waitresses? They are exploiting women," says Ravindra Sengaonkar.

"Our action is right. I am confident the exploitation will stop."

Moral policing does not stop with the government. Various politicians and political parties supported shutting the dance bars.

They enthusiastically endorsed the curfew hours fixed for discos and bars.

A recent fashion show in Mumbai - where models' costumes slipped or split revealing the breasts of one and the bottom of another - handed the city's moral brigade an opportunity to rant about India's degenerating culture.

A debate in the state assembly on the matter followed two police investigations into what many believe were just accidents.

Moral policing makes Kashmira Shah angry. "Who are they to tell us to be moral? We come from a land that introduced the Kama Sutra to the rest of the world!

"The cops don't have the right to tell me what to wear, whose hand to hold or what I can do."

All the same, regular party-goers say it'll take more than just lifting a ban on dance bars to breathe life back into Mumbai's dying night scene.